Software BSOD when starting mission on the ground

[mati140]

Hi guys, I've got some really strange problem with Orbiter 2010. Well, since yesterday I can't start any scenario on the ground with Orbiter - there is no problem when starting on orbit but on the ground, as soon as scenario starts, game freezes, strange artifacts show up, cockpit disappears and if I don't kill the orbiter process with task menager imediately, it crashes with blue screen error. Making fresh install didn't solve the issue. I have no addons and deffault settings ATM but the game still crashes.

Here is my spec:
-Win 7 Home Premium 32-bit SP1 4GB RAM (3.25 GB working, 3 GB max per process)
-Intel i3 530 @ 2.93 GHz
-GeForce GT 240, driver version: 296.10

Help

 

[Lucy]

What error message does this BSOD produce?

Does this kind of thing happen in any other 3D program? Have you checked your graphics drivers are current?

 

[mati140]

What error message does this BSOD produce?

Does this kind of thing happen in any other 3D program? Have you checked your graphics drivers are current?

It only happens with this one so far. 296.10 is WHQL. Gonna perform the system crash again and check the message. Hope my computer won't burn ;P

 

[RisingFury]

Have you checked your graphics drivers are current?

I checked, they're the latest.

When did you update the graphics drivers, mati? Maybe the latest version causes errors and it might be worth rolling back to a slightly older version.

 

[Loru]

Reinstall display drivers and DirectX. I enountered BSOD in orbiter once but it was due to GPU being fried a bit.

 

[mati140]

What error message does this BSOD produce?

U asked for it:

*** STOP: 0x00000116 (0xC4547008, 0xD556AACE, 0x00000000, 0x00000002)

*** nvlddmkm.sys - Address D556AACE base at D5420000, DateStamp 4f4e6797

I may upload memory dump if it does help.

Gonna try reinstalling drivers later

 

[Loru]

I see 3 possibilities - either

messed up display drivers
factory "overclocked" card that overheats
fried GPU

For first one here is some reference in Polish: http://peb.pl/windows-7/754771-b-ad-blue-screen-i-plik.html

 

[mati140]

I see 3 possibilities - either

messed up display drivers
factory "overclocked" card that overheats
fried GPU

For first one here is some reference in Polish: http://peb.pl/windows-7/754771-b-ad-blue-screen-i-plik.html

Actually I have no problems with as high-end game as Battlefield 3 - there's no way it can be a hardware problem.

 

[dbeachy1]

With a properly functioning graphics system (hardware and driver), there is no way that a graphics application (such as Orbiter) could cause a kernel crash (BSOD). Every graphics-related BSOD in my experience has always been caused by either a) a bug in the display driver, or b) a hardware problem.

Also, remember that Orbiter uses DirectX 7, which is not used by any modern games such as Battlefield 3.

 

[garyw]

U asked for it:

*** STOP: 0x00000116 (0xC4547008, 0xD556AACE, 0x00000000, 0x00000002)

*** nvlddmkm.sys - Address D556AACE base at D5420000, DateStamp 4f4e6797

This seems to be a common error over on the nvidia forums. nvlddkmkm.sys is an nvidia driver and some articles I've seen on this issue list it as either a corrupt driver or a bug so what I'd do is run a chkdsk on the hard drive and upgrade/resinstall the video drivers.

I may upload memory dump if it does help.

Please don't. If you have a full memory dump then the dmp file is the same size as the amount of RAM inside the PC. Even a mini dump can be quite large and even then specialist tools are required to examine the content of one of these files to find the cause of the crash. In this case though everything seems to be pointing to a video driver bug.

 

[mati140]

I found some information (on BF3 Battlelog forums BTW) that 296.01 drivers cause such BSODs (the exactly same error) and going back to 295.73 does help, so I decided to start over from scratch. I removed all NVIDIA drivers, then i removed them again (bc it showed that my previous 290.xx drivers didn't uninstall correctly) and when the system started to work on Standard VGA Adapter drivers I performed a clean install of 295.73 drivers.

I lunched Orbiter, tried starting mission on the ground again, and... fail - exactly same glithes and BSOD again. Any suggestions now?

 

[Spaced]

If you're feeling up to it try taking a screwdriver, open up the case of your computer and make sure all components, especially the graphics card are well seated. Push them down, firmly but carefully.

It could be a poor hardware connection.

 

[mati140]

If you're feeling up to it try taking a screwdriver, open up the case of your computer and make sure all components, especially the graphics card are well seated. Push them down, firmly but carefully.

It could be a poor hardware connection.

I checked, hardware is fine. According to complaints all over the internet nVidia must have messed something up.

The most strange thing is that when I start mission on orbit, and then switch to a vessel on the ground, the game runs fine - the problem happens only when I START on the ground.

Also it does not always BSOD - sometimes it simply hangs requiring killing via task meneger. I meneaged to take a screenshot of what it looks like during this proceder, I can post it if you want.

 

[Loru]

Have you tried fresh installation of orbiter? or changing options in video tab?

 

[mati140]

Have you tried fresh installation of orbiter? or changing options in video tab?

Yes, I did, read first post. It's still absolutely stock.

Now, THIS is strange:

I checked again adn it seems that this BSOD has nothing to do with on the ground or in orbit - I succesfully started scenario with DG on pad in Habana Spaceport, and "Lunch into sunrise" (LC on KSC) Atlantis Scenario. However, I still crashed in scenarios with DG on shuttle landing facility runway (midday) and with Satelite Lunch Atlantis scenario, starting midday on LC. It appears that the problem occurs only when starting on KSC, facing NASA infrastructure... at day. However if I get to KSC during mission, it doesn't crash - so it's still lunch-only problem. Is it possible that it's some of NASA building's shadow at main facility generating freeze?

Also, can someone else, who uses 295.73 or 296.10 nVidia drivers check for this problem?

 

[STS]

I have exactly the same problem

Intel Core i5 2400
Gygabyte P61-USB3-B3
8 Gb RAM
Nvidia XFX GeForce GT240 with 296.10 Drivers

Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64 bits

The computer is 1 week old...

 

[EndeavourCmdr]

Try disabling the "Try Stencil Buffer" option on the video tab.

 

[Izack]

Is it possible that it's some of NASA building's shadow at main facility generating freeze?

You can test that by disabling vessel and object shadows in the Visual Effects tab.

 

[STS]

Try disabling the "Try Stencil Buffer" option on the video tab.

It is disabled